Tuesday Evening

About Shiloh Baptist Church of Orlando

Shiloh Baptist Church of Orlando as we know it today is over 100 years old and had very humble beginnings. God has richly blessed the church with eight pastors down through the years.

Shiloh's eighth and current Pastor, Reverend Derrick A. Williams, is a son of Shiloh who licensed to preach the Gospel in Jul 2005. He was ordained in July 2009 and served as Worship Leader before being called as pastor in July 2012. Pastor Williams has been an active member of Shiloh Baptist Church of Orlando since 1980. He served in many ministries capacities including Boy Scouts Master, President of the Brotherhood, Shiloh’s Men’s Chorus, Sunday School Teacher, Chair of building committee, Bible School Teacher and Minister of Shiloh Witness Force for Christ Evangelic Ministry.

In 1988, Pastor Williams was ordained as Servant-Deacon of Shiloh Baptist Church and later appointed as Chairman of the Deacons’ Ministry, where he served in this role for 14 years. In December 2005, Minister Williams accepted the call of God to preach the gospel and served as Minister of Edification.

Pastor Williams worked for the past 30+ years at Lockheed Martin as an engineer, with his most recent position as a Senior Engineering Manager. When not ministering at home, at work, or at Shiloh, he ministers by example to those he encounters by his caring and gentle spirit. His earnest desire is that the people of God will learn how to "be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves".(James 1:22)

Under Pastor Williams’s leadership, God has truly shown His grace and favor within the congregation and community. God has added over 250 new member servants to the Church. God has blessed the congregation to fulfill and maintain all financial obligations even during the recent economic recession. In 2010, He prospered us to obtain additional property at a time when it was not affordable. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He established, revitalized, and organized ministries to better meet the need of God’s peoples. In 2011, He initiated Shiloh’s Parking ministry as a means to generate additional Church revenue by supporting Downtown venue special event parking needs. In 2009, he established the “Answered Prayer Ministry” which currently consists of the Shiloh’s food pantry and clothes closet. Since inception, the pantry has distributed over 210,000 pounds (105 tons) of food, blessing more than 4608 households within the Orlando community. The clothes closet has distributed over 80,220 articles of clothing within the community and beyond our state and internationally, as the need arise. “To GOD BE THE GLORY!”

OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE YEARS

The Shiloh Baptist Church of Orlando that we know today, had very humble beginnings. Our church was founded in late 1899, when six devoted Christians joined Reverend Alan Arnett (our first pastor) at the home of Mrs. Rachel Gay. Following God’s orders to "seek and save the lost" and to be "fishers of men", Reverend Arnett immediately launched a revival that netted the first candidates for baptism. As the membership continued to grow, the first deacons and deaconesses were appointed, and the church became a member of the South Florida Missionary Association. Rev. Arnett and the church officials purchased a lot on the northwest corner of Gush Row and Depuline Streets (now known as Jackson and Bryan Streets) which became the site of the first Shiloh Baptist Church sanctuary. The church membership grew to three hundred, and auxiliaries expanded to include an ushers’ board, a choir, and the missionary society. The rapidly growing congregation’s need for a larger church led them, in 1922, to lay the foundation for a new church building at 604 West Jackson Street.

Rev. Arnett recommended Rev. Thomas C. Collier of Fort Myers as his successor. Rev. Collier accepted the call as our second pastor in July 1922, and immediately went to work completing the building project. The faith and hard work were rewarded when the congregation marched from the old church building to the new one on Easter Sunday morning, 1923. Under Reverend Collier’s dynamic leadership, the Shiloh congregation built and furnished a parsonage and an annex to the church. The congregation’s continued to grow, and Christian development brought additional ministries: usher’s board, choirs, brotherhood, and youth activities. Through reliance on God and because of His goodness, the church became totally debt- free in 1955.

Shiloh’s third pastor, Rev. Curtis Jackson, was a son of Shiloh who had been licensed to preach by Rev. Collier in 1946. Rev. Jackson was installed, as pastor of Shiloh in August 1961. Rev. Jackson’s three- year tenure was a very energetic and enthusiastic one. His initial focus was to honor and embrace the mission of the church - that one teaching and the Word of God. In October 1961 he conducted a weeklong evangelistic clinic, followed by a week of revival.

Realizing that a pastor must meet the spiritual and physical needs of this growing congregation, Rev. Jackson instituted numerous initiatives that solidified the infrastructure of this congregation. After ensuring that the church membership roll was accurate, he led us to equip a church office & pastor’s study, hire a fulltime church secretary, and produce Sunday church bulletins. This was also the start of an envelope system to manage members’ weekly tithes & offerings, monthly birthday rallies and individual auxiliary budgets. He went on to conduct training programs for deacons, trustees, and Sunday School teachers. We began holding general Bible classes, organized the Youth Department and installed additional trustees and deaconesses. Numerous improvements were made to our buildings.

Our fourth pastor was a visionary who served Shiloh and the community for nearly twenty-five years. Rev. Jethro W. Toomer became pastor of Shiloh in April 1966. Rev. Toomer is best remembered for his kindness, compassion diplomacy, and for his commitment to the youth of the church and the surrounding community. Led and guided by Rev. Toomer, Shiloh grew in knowledge of God’s word, as well as in numbers. Our explosive growth necessitated the acquisition of additional building and properties. The church was organized into districts with assigned leaders who focused on family-style prayer meetings. We saw the organization of new ministries and the reorganization of many existing ones. Shiloh’s youth department was reorganized and expanded to include such innovative ideas as summer camp, annual youth day celebration, quarterly youth talent shows, special recognition of graduates, and numerous activities designed to motivate young people. Rev. Toomer dreamed of erecting a monument to the glory of God. He and the church leaders worked faithfully and tirelessly to bring that dream to fruition. A plan was set in motion that resulted in the construction of our current sanctuary, which was dedicated in November 1980. During the next decade, Shiloh continued to enrich and encourage its congregation and community through sharing God’s Word and His goodness. At the end of that decade, after years of dedicated and inspired service, Rev. Toomer’ss health failed. He retired, but served as pastor emeritus until his demise. God allowed Rev. Toomer to see his dreams come full circle as we celebrated the burning of the mortgage in November 1990.

In August 1991, Shiloh’s fifth pastor, Rev. Randolph Bracy, began his year of service at Shiloh. His legacy is the establishment of several progressive ministries including the J.W. Toomer Scholarship Ministry, the Single’s Ministry, the Married Couples Ministry and the Wednesday midday service.

Shiloh’s sixth pastor, Rev. Larry W. Ware was installed in July 1994. Under his leadership, the Deacon’s Ministry and the administrative staff were expanded to meet the needs of our growing congregation. The sanctuary was remodeled. The T.C. Collier Education Center was dedicated, and the church entered into a partnership with Americorp to promote independence and self-sufficiency of unemployed and underemployed adults in the surrounding community. Shiloh hosted the Florida State Baptist Convention in 1999. With an emphasis on fellowship and community, Shiloh’s Young Women’s Association and Youth Department engaged in a series of activities and events with the Great Oaks Village Shelter for abused and abandoned children. The Brotherhood sponsored "Shiloh’s Men Who Cook", and the first full-time Minister of Music was hired to enhance Shiloh’s music ministry.

July 2001, Pastor White was installed as Shiloh’s seventh pastor on October 21, 2001. Through the monthly sojourn into the community by the Shiloh Witness Force for Christ (SWFC), First Start (weekly breakfast for the homeless and hungry), our congregation offered spiritual food for the soul and physical food for the body. Through the efforts of SWFC, many individuals opened their hearts to Christ and more than 11,000 hot breakfasts were served through First Start. Additionally, the first family album was published. Shiloh enhanced its internal communication systems by utilizing monitors, projectors, computer systems, and networks.

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Pastor's VisionTo share the Word of God in a present-day, creative, credible, and caring way with a focus on bridging the generational gap so all can come to know Jesus Christ and grow to their full potential in Christ. We strive to provide a place of peace for all to encounter God, in love, worship, giftedness and encouragement.